Yugi's Art
by Midnight'ssong22
Summary: Yami loves Yugi's art... and also loves Yugi! But how can he tell the young one if there is a risk that Yugi might hate him for it? And what is splatter painting! Pure fluff. Puzzleshipping. And some Tendershipping thrown in the mix. Oneshot.


**Yugi's Art Project**

**By: Midnight'ssong22**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh**

**A/N: /Yugi taking through mind link/; /Yami talking through mind link/**

**-O-**

Yami couldn't help the smile that escaped him as he watched Yugi paint in his art class.

/That looks really good, Aibou/ he told Yugi honestly through the mind link.

He felt Yugi blush and Yami smirked as Yugi replied with a quick thanks.

The painting Yugi was currently working on was a beautiful landscape of the Egyptian pyramids, a sunset painted in the background that made the picture shine with beautiful shades of red and orange.

Yami was in awe of the perfection of the painting. He was constantly entranced by the way his Aibou wielded a paintbrush. The end result always a masterpiece.

He could remember when his Aibou had started. First drawing out his ideas and then adding in the details. A process that had taken two, one hour class periods.

The day after he spent picking out a color scheme, planning the combinations out carefully.

Now, today, he had finally started the painting process, making the images he created come to life with color, as if the picture he had drawn was a photograph taken in ancient Egypt.

Before Yami knew it, the bell rang signaling the end of the period and the end of the school day. Yugi stood quickly, putting up his supplies and placing his painting on the drying rack.

His hands went behind his back to untie the blue painting smock while his teacher came up to him with a smile.

"Your painting is coming along nicely Yugi," the teacher said, "Keep up the good work."

Yugi smiled back at him before exiting the room and walking out of the school to start the short walk home in the cold weather.

/How much homework do you have tonight, Aibou?/

/Not much/ Yugi replied, /Just a page of math. After that I was thinking about painting some more with the paint set Grandpa got me/

/Sounds good/ Yami told the smaller, happy that he could watch the young one paint again.

It wasn't long before Yugi entered the game shop, greeted his grandfather, and then sat down with a cup of hot chocolate to finish said math.

Yami heard Yugi sigh in exasperation at the problems his teacher had assigned and Yami smiled again, pushing Yugi gently into his soul room so he could take over.

/Which of these problems are giving you problems, Aibou?/

/The first through tenth/ Yugi replied.

/Yugi, that's all of the problems/

/I know/ Yugi answered with another sigh, /You know I'm bad at this/

Yami chucked and set to work teaching the smaller the way to work out the complicated problems.

Yami didn't know why, but he was amazingly good at math and was constantly used as a math tutor for his Hikari. Not that he minded teaching Yugi, especially since it gave him the excuse to spend even more time with him.

Yami then sighed himself, finally going back to the thoughts he had tried to elude all day. He knew that he was desperately in love with his Hikari. Even The Thief managed to figure it out and was still teasing him unmercifully at how the once fearless pharaoh was now afraid to tell a young boy that he loved him.

"Just push him up against the wall and kiss him senseless. That's how my relationship started with Ryou," Bakura told him once when they had both taken solid forms while their hikaris were getting snacks from the kitchen.

Yami had then proceeded in fuming about he wouldn't do that to the small one and told Bakura to stay out of it.

The conversation had ended when Ryou had come out of the kitchen, carrying snacks of popcorn and soda in hand. Bakura had then smirked, walking towards his Hikari and wrapping his arms around the smaller's waist, tilting his face up and kissing him on the lips harshly.

After a few seconds, Bakura pulled away to look Yami in the eye and smirked as if saying: 'That's how it's done, Pharaoh.'

A few seconds later Yugi had exited the kitchen with snacks of his own, and Bakura had tilted his head towards Yugi, urging the Pharaoh on.

Yami had been tempted at that moment and had actually walked towards the young Hikari, but at the last second he took some of the food out of Yugi's hands instead, helping the smaller teen to get all the food on the table so that the four of them could start watching the movie.

It was later when the two hikaris had fallen asleep on the couch that Bakura started his annoying teasing again.

"Three words, pharaoh. Three words and your worries would be over. Four if you add his name at the end."

Yami just glared, ignoring Bakura as the dialogue of the movie played quietly in the background.

"The words are I. Love. And you. Put them together and tell them to Yugi, and you will finally hear the end of my teasing," Bakura reasoned.

"And if he rejects me?"

"He won't," The quiet voice of Ryou cut in sleepily from Bakura's lap, "I think he likes you a lot Yami."

Yami hadn't replied and had gone back to watching the movie, attempting to ignore the fact that his own Hikari was asleep, his head resting in Yami's lap.

"_Is Ryou right? Does Yugi like me the same way I like him?' _Yami thought quietly to himself with a sigh as his concentration went back to helping Yugi with his dreaded math.

With Yami's help the math was completed quickly and almost painlessly, and Yugi took over again thanking his Yami and quickly ran upstairs to start a new painting.

"I think I want to try splatter painting. It looks like fun," Yugi commented aloud, grabbing his paint smock and tying it around his waist.

/Splatter painting, Aibou?/ Yami asked curiously.

"You'll see Yami," Yugi replied mischievously, grabbing a tarp from his closet and spreading it on the floor in the middle of the room and then placing his easel in the middle.

He then got out his paint set and brushes, putting all the colors he had on his palette, mixing a couple together to make new colors until he had all sorts of color combinations.

"Why don't you come out and help me Yami?" Yugi asked the spirit, after setting up.

/I don't think I'd be good at it, Yugi. I haven't taken any kind of class on art./

"You don't need an art class to be able to be good at splatter paint. Come on, Yami. It'll be fun," Yugi replied.

Yami didn't reply but slowly pulled himself away from the puzzle, creating himself a temporary body so that he could do as his Hikari asked.

Yugi smiled, handing the taller a paint smock and a paintbrush and dipping his own into the orange paint on the palette.

"Now it's my turn to teach," Yugi smiled up at him, "All you have to do is take the paintbrush and do this."

With a flick of his wrist Yugi splattered the paint across the easel, orange paint dots appearing across the blank sheet.

"Get it? Easy right?" Yugi smiled.

"Yes, Aibou," Yami replied with a smile of his own, dipping his brush in purple and splattering it across the page.

After a few minutes of painting it was only to be expected that a project this messy would get out of control.

Thus, when Yugi moved forward to flick his paintbrush at the easel again and Yami got in the way, bright pink paint was splattered in the spirit's face, which caused the start of an interesting paint war.

"I'm so sorry Yami! I didn't mean to-" Yugi started as the pink dripped from the bangs on Yami's face but he was cut off when dark blue paint was suddenly flung in his own face.

Yugi stood stunned for a moment as Yami chuckled from in front of him.

"Now we're even, Aibou."

"But I didn't do it on purpose!" Yugi pouted.

Yami shrugged smirking, "Oh well."

Yugi then reached his hand out to the palette; dipping his brush in yellow before flicking his wrist towards his Yami, yellow splattering across the taller's smock and the collar of his jacket.

Without missing a beat Yami counterattacked with a glob of green, the glob splattering on Yugi's shoulder and bottom of his face.

Again and again, globs of paint left the palette to join the ongoing battle until all colors had left the palette to collect on the two boys' clothes, skin and hair.

Yami smirked as he and Yugi finally ended the battle, finding that a rainbow colored Yugi was quite an interesting sight. Although he guessed that he looked about the same.

Yugi's eyes met his and at the same time both boys broke out in laughter, barely able to keep standing.

Suddenly a knock sounded on the door of Yugi's room and the door opened to reveal Yugi's grandfather.

He stood in the doorway for a second giving the boys a stern look, both boys now silent.

"I think we'll need a camera for this, you two," He said calmly before laughing himself at the sight of his grandson.

And as soon as he said this, he left the room grabbing the camera from his own and came back, having the boys pose for the colorful pictures.

After a few shots the older man left the camera with Yugi leaving with a quick explanation that he would not help the two clean the mess up.

"Don't worry Grandpa, we got it covered," Yugi replied smiling, camera in hand as his grandfather closed the door behind him.

Yugi walked back over to Yami, looking through the pictures on the digital camera.

Actually he was so distracted by said pictures, that he didn't notice the gigantic glob of paint on the tarp that caused him to slip and fall backwards.

Closing his eyes, he prepared himself for the impact of the wooden floor, but suddenly he felt strong arms wrap around his waist, and he fell back onto his Yami's chest instead.

"Clumsy, are we?" Yami asked in his ear, causing the smaller teen to blush slightly at how close the two of them were suddenly standing.

Yami helped Yugi back on his feet, smirking when he saw the slight blush on Yugi's paint covered cheeks.

"I suppose we should both shower before this paint dries," Yami commented, choosing not to remark on the blush.

"Yeah, if you want, you can go first," Yugi said.

"No it's okay Yugi. You go ahead."

"Alright," Yugi replied, grabbing a towel and another set of clothes before leaving the room.

Yami smiled as his colorful Aibou left and his mind wandered back to his thoughts from before.

"I should just tell him and get it over with. Yugi wouldn't hate me for something like this… Would he?" Yami mumbled to himself as he paced the room, paint still dripping from his hair.

Finally, he stopped in front of their splatter paint painting and turned the page. After a few moments of quiet consideration, he finally grabbed a paintbrush and before he could stop himself, he painted a picture of his own on the blank canvas.

When he was satisfied with his work he took a black trash bag from the kitchen and placed it gently around the painting to cover it but not destroy it.

By the time he was completed, he heard the sound of the water cutting off down the hall and a few moments later a freshly cleaned Yugi walked in, his hair drooping slightly from the water of his shower, and now dressed in a blue long sleeved t-shirt and jeans instead of his school uniform.

"Your turn," Yugi smiled, but then his eyes landed on the covered canvas, "What's with the painting?"

"You'll see after I've taken my shower," Yami replied, grabbing a towel of his own and walking towards the door.

He paused a second, turning to face his curious Hikari, "No peeking till I'm done, okay?"

Yugi pouted, wanting to know what it was his Yami was up to but nodded his head, confirming that he would wait until his Yami was done.

So with that Yami walked out of the room and into the bathroom, starting the shower and quickly entering the warm water before the cold could affect him.

For a few minutes he just stood under the spray, the warm water soothing his tense muscles from the stress he was dealing with. That painting would finally reveal his true feelings for his Hikari. That thought alone made him incredibly stressed. Especially since he could only think of the bad outcomes of all this.

Yami groaned, wishing that he could just stay in the shower for the rest of the afternoon so he wouldn't have to face Yugi but he knew the hot water would run out eventually and that would be very bad in this 30 degree weather.

Finally he turned the knobs on the side of the wall, and he dried himself quickly, changing into a black shirt and dark jeans.

He slowly walked out of the bathroom and down the hall to Yugi's room.

Upon entering he saw the smaller admiring his painting with wide eyes.

Yami's own eyes widened in shock, not expecting his fate to be arriving so quickly.

"You promised not to look at it until I got back!" Yami uncharacteristically whined, trying to get between Yugi and the painting.

"No, you said I couldn't peek until you were done in the bathroom. You finished taking a shower so I looked at the painting. You didn't say you had to be here," Yugi explained with a slight smirk.

'_Of course Yugi would be the one to find a loophole,' _Yami thought to himself, his fingers rubbing his temples slightly as he watched Yugi examine the end result of his painting.

Yami had kept it simplistic, painting the hieroglyphics for the phrase 'I love you' onto the painting in a golden colored paint he had found in a glob on the tarp. He had taught this phrase and many others to Yugi. So he was not worried about the smaller not being able to understand.

The rest of the canvas was painted black, making the words the obvious emphasis of the painting.

"I love it," Yugi told him smiling, "The hieroglyphics were painted perfectly and the black is a good contrast to the gold of the symbols. And you said you'd be bad at painting."

'_Is Yugi really just not going to comment on what this painting really means?' _Yami thought to himself, the cold stab of rejection making his heart ache.

But despite his feelings Yami replied with a half-smile, "Thanks Yugi, but truly I'm not as good at painting as you are."

"You know," Yugi started, almost timidly, "I hope this means what I think it means or what I'm about to do is going to be a big mistake."

"What do you mean Aibou-" Yami started but was suddenly cut off when a pair of soft warm lips was pressed gently to his own.

His eyes widened in surprise but his arms acted of their own accord as his mind tried to process what was going on. His arms encircled the small waist, pulling the body of the young boy flush against his own.

His eyes closed, and his lips traveled hungrily over the smaller's as Yugi's own arms came to rest on his shoulders. After a few moments he pulled back slightly to look down at Yugi.

Yugi looked up at him and he smiled.

"I love you too, Mou Hitori no Boku."

Yami smiled, relieved for the first time in his life that the Thief had been right about something.

Yami then leaned in to kiss Yugi's lips again, this time a little more forcefully while his hands pulled the boy even closer against him.

He suddenly had the urge to deepen the kiss and his tongue darted out of his mouth running across Yugi's bottom lip. Yugi gasped and Yami took the opportunity to explore Yugi's mouth, tasting the sweetness of Yugi. Yugi's tongue hesitantly darted out to meet his own and the age old battle for dominance began.

Yami, of course easily won, but then allowed Yugi to take over, the smaller slowly gaining confidence in the kiss as he explored the spice like taste of Yami.

After a few more moments, the sudden need of air was overpowering and Yami pulled back to look at his Hikari.

Yugi's eyes were dazed and his lips were slightly kiss-swollen. Yami smirked and nuzzled Yugi's neck as the smaller tried to catch his breath.

"So, how long have you been holding that kiss in?" Yugi asked suddenly through pants.

"A while now," Yami smiled into his neck, "I just never thought you would actually come to like me."

"Yami, I've liked you for a while now. Ryou actually figured it out a while ago. Even before I knew," Yugi replied.

"Wait, Ryou knew? Does that mean the Thief knew too?"

"Probably," Yugi replied, "Why?"

"No wonder he was teasing me so much…" Yami mumbled to himself, Yugi barely catching his words,.

"Well I did tell Ryou not to tell you," Yugi answered, with a sheepish grin, "I didn't think you'd feel the same."

"Well now you know that I most definitely do," Yami replied with a quick kiss to Yugi's lips, "But the Thief is still dead for the crap he gave me."

-O-

**The Next Day:**

The spirit's left their millennium items in quick succession and both took a seat on the couch in front of the TV screen.

Bakura smirked as the hikaris left the room, leaving the two yamis to themselves.

"When are you going to tell the brat you love him?" Bakura asked the pharaoh as they both sat on the couch, waiting for their hikaris to return.

"I will tell him when I want to," Yami replied, focusing on the television instead of him.

Ryou then entered and Bakura's smirk just widened. He motioned for the young Hikari to come towards him, Ryou immediately obeying his yami's wishes.

As soon as he was close enough Bakura grabbed Ryou from the waist and forced the small boy to sit in his lap. He then pulled Ryou's face down to his, kissing his Hikari.

Pulling back he looked to Yami but instead of a glare he received complete ignorance from the pharaoh.

'_Whatever, he's still jealous, even if he doesn't show it.'_

It was with this thought that Yugi appeared, a smile on his face as he came to sit with them.

Bakura went back to focusing on his own Hikari until suddenly he heard a yelp from Yugi and he turned his head to see what had happened.

Bakura's eyes traveled over the pharaoh who now had the small Yugi in his lap, Yugi blushing as he sat on top of him. What was the pharaoh trying to do?

Then Bakura's eyes widened in shock when the usually timid and shy Yugi suddenly kissed the pharaoh on the lips without any hesitation. Bakura's own mouth dropping in surprise.

"Come now 'Kura, It's not nice to stare," Ryou commented, with a knowing smile.

Bakura finally allowed his mouth to close but then he felt irritation as he realized the pharaoh pulled a fast one on him.

"When the hell did _this_ happen?"

-O-

"I have to say, this is my favorite one," Yugi said holding up the newly developed picture.

The picture showed the results of the splatter paint war, Yami and Yugi standing in the middle of it all. Their arms were around each other shoulders and they were both smiling as paint dripped down their faces and clothes.

"Although I'm also partial to this one," Yugi added holding up another picture taken slightly after the first one, of himself with a paintbrush painting lines on Yami's face while Yami still had his arm around him.

"Yeah, well I like this one," Yami said holding up the picture that came after that. The one where Yami, after getting his face painted on by Yugi, took his own paintbrush and counterattacked with a swirled design on Yugi's face. Yugi in the picture was smiling as he tried to get away from the revenge-bent yami.

They both laughed as they looked through the pictures, knowing the splatter painting would always be a favored memory between the two.

Earlier that day before Bakura and Ryou had visited; Yugi had been at school and had finished his painting of the pyramids. His teacher had told him that his painting would be displayed in the upcoming art show at the school. Yugi had been so happy that it was infectious.

Now, as Yugi sat on Yami's lap on the couch, Yami realized that if it wasn't for Yugi's art, he probably would have never had the courage to tell his Aibou of his love.

Yami smiled his arms tightening around Yugi's waist.

"I love you, Aibou."

-O-

**A/N: As it said in the summary this story is complete fluff. This idea had been floating around my head for a while and since I had school off today I decided today would be as good as ever to publish it. I also thought it would be cool to publish this on 11/11/11, so there we go.**

**Please review and tell me what you think. Whether you loved it, hated it, or any other opinions, I want to know!**

**"All it takes is three simple steps readers," Bakura says from across the screen, "Finish reading the author note. Click the Review Story button. And type a review."**

**"If you do, she'll write more puzzleshipping and tendershipping fluff," Ryou adds quietly from Bakura's lap.**

**"Yeah, so review so there's more tendershipping!" Bakura smirks, looking down at his now blushing hikari.**

**Thanks for reading. :) Please Review!**


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